Dr. Kelly Named Chair of Behavioral Science

After two years leading the College of Medicine Department of Behavioral Science as interim chair, Thomas Kelly, PhD, has accepted an offer to assume the role of full-time chair of his department.

This change is retroactive to Aug. 1.

Dr. Kelly is a professor in the departments of behavioral science and psychiatry; the College of Nursing; and the department of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2003, he was named a Robert Straus Endowed Professor in the department of behavioral science. In 2012, he was appointed the associate dean of research and PhD faculty affairs for the College of Nursing.

In 2019, he was asked to serve as interim chair of the department of behavioral science, which was previously led for many years by Carl G. Leukefeld, PhD.

Dr. Kelly’s exemplary work in his field is represented through membership to a variety of groups including the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, Association for Behavior Analysis, Behavioral Pharmacology Society, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Before arriving to the University of Kentucky in 1992, he served five years as assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Kelly received his bachelor’s degree in psychology at the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, followed by the completion of his doctorate at the University of Minnesota and his post-doctoral fellowship with the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, La.